This invention relates generally to cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a cooking appliance having multiple operating configurations.
Some known cooking appliances include an oven cavity and electrical heating elements, such as a baking element and/or a broiling element, positioned within the oven cavity for heating food items positioned within the oven cavity. The cooking appliances are generally installed in a kitchen area of a building and coupled to the building's electrical power supply.
Many single family residential buildings include an electrical power supply system that includes three wires for supplying electrical power at 240 volts (on a 120/240V circuit). The power supply system includes two hot wires and a neutral wire. In such power supply systems, the voltage between the two hot wires is about 240 volts and the voltage between each hot wire and the neutral wire is about 120 volts. In contrast, many multiple family residential buildings, such as high-rise residential apartment buildings, include an electrical power supply system that supplies electrical power at about 208 volts (on a 120/208V circuit). In such power supply systems, the voltage between the two hot wires is about 208 volts and the voltage between each hot wire and the neutral wire is about 120 volts.
Conventional cooking appliances are typically configured to operate efficiently on a 120/240V circuit found in many single family residential buildings. As a result, when such conventional cooking appliances are coupled to a 120/208V circuit, such as found in many multiple family residential buildings, a power output of the heating elements is reduced, which may compromise appliance performance. The reduction in power output undesirably results in longer preheating times and/or inconsistent cooking performance.